Motorola Solutions, Inc. $MSI Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its Motorola Solutions stake by 42.0% in Q4, acquiring 40,034 shares to hold 135,362 shares worth about $51.9 million (0.08% of the company), and institutional investors now own roughly 84.17% of the stock.
• Motorola beat earnings with $4.59 EPS vs. $4.35 expected and $3.38B revenue (up 12.3% YoY); the stock has a ~$73.3B market cap, a PE of 34.6, and a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" with a $502.50 target.
• Insider selling has been notable: CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares (~$13.6M) and insiders have sold 129,069 shares (~$60.8M) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with about 1.28% ownership.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI - Free Report) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 135,362 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 40,034 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of Motorola Solutions worth $51,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covea Finance boosted its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 5.9% in the third quarter. Covea Finance now owns 111,219 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $50,859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,386,519 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,292,310,000 after buying an additional 490,354 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 20.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,345,492 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $615,280,000 after buying an additional 227,062 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Motorola Solutions by 8.4% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 29,701 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $13,582,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions during the third quarter worth $1,462,000. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Motorola Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $441.18 on Thursday. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $359.36 and a 52 week high of $492.22. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $454.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.30. The firm has a market cap of $73.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.24. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 110.75% and a net margin of 18.44%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Motorola Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. Motorola Solutions's payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

Insider Activity at Motorola Solutions

In related news, CEO Gregory Q. Brown sold 28,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.95, for a total value of $13,590,508.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 90,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,360,101.95. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cynthia Yazdi sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.01, for a total value of $3,297,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,254.29. This represents a 42.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,069 shares of company stock worth $60,779,964. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSI. Truist Financial began coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $540.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Motorola Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $499.00 price objective (up from $443.00) on shares of Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Motorola Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.50.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

Motorola Solutions, Inc is a provider of mission-critical communications and analytics solutions for public safety and commercial customers. The company designs, manufactures and supports a range of communications equipment and software aimed at enabling first responders, government agencies and enterprises to coordinate and operate reliably in high-pressure environments. Its offerings emphasize secure, resilient connectivity and situational awareness for organizations that require dependable voice, data and video communications.

Product lines include land mobile radio (LMR) systems and handheld and vehicle-mounted radios used by police, fire and emergency medical services; broadband push-to-talk and LTE-based solutions; command-and-control center software for incident management and records; and video security and analytics systems.

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